Luck brought it so that oh Yannis Constantelias celebrate your 20th birthday with the second goal of your professional career at Toumba in front of your fans PAOK. It was not an important goal for his team.

It was only one of six that the “two-headed north” achieved at the expense of the Ionian, but it was significant for him, because it came on the day when he passed in age on the next track, to another, higher and much more demanding level. .

The 20-candle cake he blew out in front of his teammates in the Tombstone locker room screams at him that it’s time to drop the word “child” and face the continuation of his career with the maturity of a man. , a football player who is ready to fulfill everything he promised from the first day he was introduced to the football public.

And if in a country accustomed to considering players of this age as “children” and “talents”, this burden may seem excessive, then in advanced football Europe it is taken for granted: a 20-year-old football player must be ready to compete with the best, even in more high-quality and demanding championships, in very deep water and without a life jacket…

The numbers don’t quite explain why Giannis Constantelias is considered, by “experts” and non-specialists alike, to be the next big figure in Greek football. In just 20 games in which he managed to play for the PAOK first team, he scored twice and provided 5 assists, which is satisfactory for a 20-year-old attacking midfielder, but not overwhelming – others have achieved much more.

For example, Christos Tsolis, a previous prodigy from the PAOK academies, managed at the same age to score 19 goals in 23 Super League appearances in the 2019-2020 season before heading down a million-euro paved road to Norwich and the glamorous club. Premier League.

So in the case of Constantelias, it is not the numbers that are staggering. His aerial movement with the ball at his feet is dizzying, that magic touch he feels at every contact with the ball, his football intelligence and dazzling flair, as shown in that incredible derby phase with AEK that fell into the ground made three contacts to give (intentionally, not accidentally) the assist of the year to Narey. He has a gift that you do not have – he is born with you, and with the right work and the right mindset, you can develop it and get rid of it.

The numbers don’t even tell the whole truth about Constantelias. Before his six-month loan to Belgian side Eupen in January 2022, which did not produce the expected results in the competition, his market value was, according to Transfersmarkt, 400 thousand euros, just over 300 thousand. Barcelona made an offer to PAOK in December 2017, when Pep Segura tested him for a week at the famous La Masia, shortly before he turned 15 years old.

Within a few months, his (theoretical) value has increased tenfold and now reaches 4 million euros, making him the 4th most expensive PAOK player after Zivkovic, Igansson, Douglas Augusto and 12th overall in the Super League market.

But are these 4 million euros really worth it? Clearly not, although we live in a time when the football market suffers from excesses, distortions and imbalances.

4 million euros is an amount that PAOK will not even sit down to discuss at the moment if there is a foreign team that will offer it in order to acquire him. This may seem like overkill for a 20-year-old who has only made 20 professional appearances, scoring 2 goals and providing 5 assists.

In reality, however, all stakeholders believe in the expectations that a talent creates with its aura without capitalizing on its past accomplishments. “Ntelias” is a “stock” with a very short path in the football stock market, but with many promising limit-ups that will push its value to unimaginable heights…